My Little Pony Convention 2016

Figuring out which room to visit, which event to attend. The Convention was 3 days, from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Costumes and themed wear were everywhere of course, and it didn't necessarily need to be MLP themed. I learned that this is called "Cosplay." Never heard the word before; didn't know how to pronounce it. Then, of course, the next day I saw it again as one of the new dictionary-worthy words of the year.

This is the Vendors' Hall. The kids made two trips here and carefully considered which swag to purchase.

The girls took 3rd place in this My Little Rock Band Tourney, which was Karaoke as facilitated by Bronies. No explanation as to why some songs were banned.

This MLP Card Game, I learned, is a very important part of the MLP experience.

This is the Cosplay Repair Room. Of course with so many costumes, repairs are always needed and this room is where it happens. This woman and her Cosplay Repair group perform the repair function at several different "Cons".

People loved my asking if I could photograph them.

These two were practicing MLP songs from the show to perform around the hotel as buskers. Please see the accompanying videos to get a full flavor of the spirit and energy of this Convention.

These Bronies were glued to the Electronic Game Room. Tammy, my co-parent-chaperone for the day, pointed out that the room smelled horrendously of post adolescence funk. Indeed it did.

This guy was into the video game. I watched for awhile. There were numerous characters onscreen, all fighting with each other on some dystopian platform and each clearly controlled by one of the Bronies in the room. I asked about the game and received an incredulous "Dude, you don't know Smash Bros?"

This husband and wife, recently moved to Seattle from Boise, won the Song Tourney.

In this room these Bronies were live stream casting a MLP card game that was taking place. Apparently people watch it.

I'd heard of Bronies and I expected them to be a little creepy. I was totally wrong. Almost everyone had the aura of having been some sort of outcast from the in group and MLP provides a venue for nonjudgmental belonging. The atmosphere of "Happy" at this event was incredible, along with the welcoming and acceptance vibe. These young adults were interacting with each other and with the kids as if there were no age differences and with the enthusiasm of children. Watch the two videos at the end of this album. It was really really sweet.

Here the girls are performing their 3rd place song in the Song Tourney.

Excitement happened whenever two people that were the same character met up.